Magical Beast

Ryan had already found the answer by the time he read this.

Mage Melania Luna had failed during her final advancement to Grand Mage.

Although she had not said what method she intended to use to break through to Grand Mage, if she had succeeded, the Mage Tower should not have become ruins.

The path of transcendence for mages was far more difficult than that of knights and depended heavily on talent.

Mage Apprentice, Mage Adept, Mage, Great Mage, Magus, Archmage, Grand Mage, Saint Domain Mage, Legendary Mage.

After reaching Grand Mage, a mage needed to possess their own Mage Tower to store vast amounts of magic power. Only then could they support the casting of powerful spells and even forbidden spells.

In short, only a mage with a Mage Tower could be considered a Grand Mage. Otherwise, there was not much difference between them and an Archmage.

And the fall of a Grand Mage would inevitably lead to the destruction of their Mage Tower. Once the Mage Tower was destroyed, even if the Grand Mage did not die, they would be close to it.

"It seems Mage Luna wanted to use her Golem Puppet to break through, but something went wrong in the end. The Golem Puppet went berserk and destroyed the Mage Tower."

Ryan had the soldiers take the potatoes and set off on the return journey to the fortress.

He then opened the Planar Gate and brought everyone back to the Frozen Earth Territory.

They had not gained much from this trip, but the discovery of potatoes still delighted Ryan. Sure enough, the Otherworld was his greatest treasure.

After returning to the Frozen Earth Territory, Ryan once again gave orders to the former barons from the Axeniel Continent.

"As you can see, my territory is also on the edge of the Northlands, but at least it won't be so cold. I will give each of you a plot of land, and I won't collect taxes from you for three years."

Having obtained wealth worth more than sixty thousand Gold Coins from these nobles, Ryan was quite generous. Besides, he knew that every one of them had some Gold Coins hidden away, enough to hire commoners or buy slaves from him to build their estates.

After handing the potatoes to the Old Steward and telling him a few things about how to grow them, Ryan personally led a group of people to once again attempt to reclaim the foothills around the Frozen Earth Territory.

For the Frozen Earth Territory, nothing was more important than land reclamation.

"It's spring. Even the Frozen Earth Territory has more wild beasts now. Brandt, when we get back, find someone to train a group of militia for hunting."

Ryan gave the order, and Brandt, who was following beside him, immediately agreed.

Looking at the vibrant foothills before him, Ryan reached out and touched the surrounding leaves, but he could still feel their chill.

He could not help but sigh. To support the ever-growing population of the Frozen Earth Territory, he would need at least ten thousand mu of farmland in the initial stage. Without farmland, he would not have enough food. Without enough food, he would not have an army. Without an army, he could only be a baron of some village or town.

That was something he could not accept. So he had to reclaim land and farm. He had to.

"Why does it feel like it's gotten colder around here?"

As they walked, Ryan stopped and looked around. The mountain forest was unusually quiet. The chirping of birds had vanished, making the spring world seem strangely lifeless.

"Be careful."

Brandt drew his Knight's Greatsword and bent his knees slightly. He had once hunted alone amid ice and snow, and he knew well that such silence meant an extremely powerful predator was nearby.

On Ryan's other side, red battle aura surfaced across Harrington's Knight's Armor, while his pupils turned into crimson vertical slits at that instant.

The Mimicry Breathing Technique from the Clayton Family's Knight Breathing Technique.

An invisible, faint Dragon's Might spread outward. This aura from the top of the food chain finally filled the hidden creature with a trace of fear.

The icy ground beneath their feet collapsed in that instant, sending everyone plummeting downward. Before they could regain their footing, a gaping bloody maw lined with two icy fangs tore toward them.

There was an ice cave beneath their feet, and even more terrifyingly, a magical beast was hiding within it.

As Ryan looked at the giant serpent capable of swallowing his entire body, his pupils constricted sharply. Though he possessed the physique of a Formal Knight, he had never faced such a life-or-death situation.

At the critical moment, a greatsword appeared beneath his feet. Using the cushioning force it provided, Ryan kicked off and changed the direction of his fall. He swiftly drew the Antler Dagger from his waist and drove it into the ice wall, stopping his descent.

He could cling to the ice wall, but the others were not so fortunate. The Knight Retainers and the dozen or so serfs brought to survey the soil crashed heavily into the nearly five-meter-deep ice cave. Some scraped against the sharp ice spikes within, and blood immediately stained the ground red.

"A Frost Serpent. An adult is a peak second-rank magical beast."

Ryan's heart sank to the bottom. A peak second-rank magical beast was equivalent to a Silver Knight among knights.

If it had been another place or another time, Ryan was confident he could easily hunt this giant serpent. But not here.

The terrain here was too open, and he had brought too few people.

Just as Ryan was still considering what to do, Brandt had already charged forward. His Knight's Greatsword, which he had thrown out to give Ryan something to brace against, had been swallowed in one bite by the Frost Serpent.

"This is our only chance."

Harrington reacted at that moment as well and charged forward. Every step they took in their Knight's Armor punched a hole through the thin layer of ice covering the ground.

Brandt was extremely fast. With Agile Steps, he closed in on the Frost Serpent three to five body lengths ahead of Harrington. At that moment, the magical beast seemed to realize it had swallowed something unsuitable for digestion and opened its jaws, intending to spit out the metal.

In that instant, Brandt drove a fist into the Frost Serpent's lower jaw. The immense force slammed the serpent's jaws shut, and thick blood could visibly be seen gushing from its closed mouth.

"It's injured!"

Harrington slashed his greatsword against the serpent's barrel-thick body, but he only shattered a few scales, accomplishing nothing. The pain drove the Frost Serpent mad, and its tail swept toward Harrington.

A terrifying force filled the sharp rush of air. Harrington raised his greatsword to block, but Brandt's voice came from behind him at that moment.

"Grab its tail!"

At that life-or-death moment, Harrington hesitated. But in the end, he let out a roar, threw away his greatsword, and erupted with battle aura. Heavy Dragon's Might radiated from his eyes as he raised both arms before his chest.

The appearance of Dragon's Might reduced the serpent tail's speed and force by a third. Yet even so, when the tail, thicker than his arm, struck him, Harrington felt the world spin. A faint cracking sound rang beside his ears as the Knight's Armor on his body shattered.

Boom!!!

Man and tail slammed into the wall some distance away. As for the protruding ice spikes on the ground, they had already been ground flat by his armor.

Seeing Harrington gripping the Frost Serpent's tail with all his strength, Brandt took a deep breath, then drove punch after punch into the spot about an arm's length below the serpent's head.